From very close friends, to girlfriend and boyfriend, and now to fiancés. Our story is one that has been heard many times, I’m sure. You meet someone, you find yourself gravitating towards them, you become fast friends, and eventually you realize that what you feel for them is more than just friendship. I have loved every part of getting to know Mia. She was a lovely and caring friend, and so many of the qualities I saw in her as a friend made me fall for her. Mia and I became good friends during our third year at university. We already had some mutual friends by that point and ended up playing on an intramural volleyball team together. Mia caught my eye pretty quickly. It will surprise everyone who knows Mia that it wasn’t her volleyball skills that attracted me to her. Mia is kind, sociable, charming, witty, and so so clever. Of all her charms, it was the way she interacted with people that I thought was so sweet. No matter who the person was, Mia made sure to take notice of them and ensured that everyone (to the best of her abilities) was comfortable and enjoying themselves. As mentioned above, Mia and I met at university, as so many young couples do, and right away, we knew we had a couple things in common. With our shared love of mythology (sparked by our mutual obsession with the Percy Jackson series) and our skills on the tennis court, we clicked right from the start. As much as I may have made it difficult with my initial timidness, Mia made it easy to feel comfortable around her. In the early stages of getting to know each other, we spent quite a lot of time together. From late night drives, to talks by the big oak tree, movie nights, bonfires, and the puppy lounge, we learned a lot about who we were. Both Mia and I love to laugh, so for us, humor was an easy way to bond. We both had similar taste in TV shows, so we knew we found similar things entertaining and funny. We also had similar taste in music so on our drives, whether long or short, we had a few good playlists in the rotation. Around December 2023, it was pretty clear we both liked each other to anyone looking from the outside in. To us, however, it was still unclear whether the other felt the same. To the two of us, a walk through the lights of the Tulalip Casino Christmas arrangement was simply something two close friends would do. It may have felt special, but it didn’t seem like anything more than friendship. We may have been trying to cover up feelings that had been there for a couple weeks or months. Who knows? It took a while for me to work up the courage to tell Mia how I felt. By the time I finally did, there was no other option but to do it. It was New Years Eve, and we were having a party at my house in Bellingham. We had friends and even my sisters there, many of whom knew our tale. It was a night that needed to happen for us, and one that we will never forget. Although New Years Eve tends to be celebrated before midnight, the real celebration, for me, came a little after when I asked Mia if she would have a chat with me... alone. Little did I know two and a half years later, we would be sitting together planning our wedding. It has been a joy to share our journey with all of you, and we can’t wait to see you and celebrate our very special day!